J-K polls update: First since Article 370 revoked; voting in Pulwama, Doda

Jammu-Kashmir Assembly elections began on Wednesday after 10 years, marking the first polls since the abrogation of Article 370. The first phase includes 24 constituencies, across seven districts

Jammu-Kashmir Assembly elections commenced on Wednesday after 10 years and for the first time since Article 370 was abrogated to bifurcate the erstwhile state into two Union territories: Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh. 

In the first phase, 24 Assembly seats are headed to polls including significant constituencies such as Pulwama, Doda, and Anantnag. The next two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1, and the counting of votes will be done on October 8.

Jammu-Kashmir elections: 10 latest updates

1) The polling began at 7 am across the 24 constituencies under a multi-layer security provided by Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF), Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, and J-K Police. The process will conclude at 6 pm, officials said.

 

2) In this phase, over 2.3 million voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including some prominent names such as: AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, PDP's Iltija Mufti (Srigufwara-Bijbehara seat), and the party's youth leader Waheed Para from Pulwama. 

3) Other important candidates to watch out for are three-time MLA and ex-minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, who is fighting as an Independent candidate after he was denied a ticket by the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP). DPAP was founded by former Congress veteran and ex-state CM Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2022.

4) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also fielded its youth leader Shagun Parihar, who lost his father and uncle to terrorism in 2018. Former BJP MLA Daleep Singh Parihar is also in the fray.

5) Some key constituencies going to polls in the first phase are: Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Anantnag West, Shangus-Anantnag East, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal, Shopian, and Kulgam among others.

6) Former ministers of the erstwhile state, who are trying their luck in Jammu include Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najib Suharwardy (NC), Sunil Sharma (BJP), and Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west).

7) There are a total of 90 independent candidates in the first phase. Of the 24 segments, eight lie in the Jammu region while 16 are in Kashmir.

8) Male voters exceed female voters (around 1,151,462) by approximately 25,000 at 1,176,462. Additionally, there are 60 third-gender electors. A total of 28,309 persons with disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 elderly voters above the age of 85 are also eligible to vote.

9) A total of 3,276 polling stations have been created for the first phase, including 302 urban polling stations. More than 14,000 polling staff are on duty to oversee the voting process.